Spears v. Chapman
Michigan Supreme Court
Cases made after judgment from Wayne. Garnishment. Spears having recovered judgment before a justice for fifty dollars against Charlotte Issler, garnished Chapman and Mrs. Biley, and took judgments against them, from which they appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed the judgments.
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Cases made after judgment from Wayne. Garnishment. Spears having recovered judgment before a justice for fifty dollars against Charlotte Issler, garnished Chapman and Mrs. Biley, and took judgments against them, from which they appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed the judgments. The garnishees’ disclosure showed that although they had bought goods from Mrs. Issler, they did not know whether they were indebted for them to her or to her husband, -who testified for the defendant that he was a grocer, and that his wife, who helped him in the store, never owned the goods. The garnishment…
1Opinion of the CourtMarston, C. J.
These cases are substantially alike, and in each the judgment must be reversed. This court has held recently in several cases that the garnishee’s disclosure in justice’s court must show a liability to the principal defendant before a judgment can be rendered thereon. If the disclosure is ambiguous, leaving it uncertain whether any indebtedness exists, or if so, to whom, and the ease substantially rests upon that, the plaintiff must fail. The garnishee is the plaintiff’s witness, and the burden of proof is upon Mm to make out by that witness a prima facie case. •
Judgments reversed with costs.
T…
2Cited by7 opinions
- Isabelle v. Iron Cliffs Co.Michigan Supreme Court · 1885
- Ball v. YoungMichigan Supreme Court · 1884
- Walker v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee RailroadMichigan Supreme Court · 1882
- Barber v. HowdMichigan Supreme Court · 1891
- Weirich v. ScribnerMichigan Supreme Court · 1880
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